DURHAM — Trees and power lines fell across the Triangle Thursday night as gusting winds swept across the area. One Durham resident received a homecoming he had not bargained for.

Onuorah Nwogalanya was coming home after running an errand when a tree came crashing down on his car in the driveway. His cousin, Ejoh Lawerance, saw everything from inside the house.

"We were sitting outside of the house and we were talking, saying it was windy," Lawerance said. "Suddenly, we looked out the window and I thought he was pulling in. I saw the tree coming down and 'Boom.'"

The tree trapped Nwogalanya inside the car.

"When I looked up, I saw the branches from the tree all over the car," Nwogalanya said. "That's when I yelled for help. Someone from the house came in and tried to pull me out of the car."

The fire department had to come out and cut the tree off the car.

The windy weather also put some people in the dark. At the peak of the outages,CP&Lreported more than 10,700 customers without power in Cary, Roxboro and Warrenton.

Wake Electricsaid about 100 of its customers were without service.Duke Powerreported 125 homes were without power in the Durham area.

The gusty winds, measuring 30 to 35 mph atRDUcaused minor problems for some flights. One flight was diverted to Fayetteville after it was unable to land at the airport.